What government was formed first?

The first national government formed in America was the Continental Congress, an assembly of colonial delegates that operated as a de facto national authority from 1774 to 1781 before the Articles of Confederation took effect. The First Continental Congress met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774 with 56 delegates from 12 colonies (all but Georgia) gathered to coordinate response to Britain's Coercive Acts. It adopted the Declaration and Resolves on October 14, 1774, the Continental Association nonimportation pact on October 20, 1774, and petitions to the king and to the British and Quebecois peoples, then agreed to reconvene if grievances were not redressed.

The Second Continental Congress convened in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) on May 10, 1775, three weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord. With Georgia eventually represented as well, all 13 colonies sent delegates, and the body became the wartime national government. It adopted the Continental Army and named George Washington commander on June 14 and 15, 1775; sent the Olive Branch Petition on July 8, 1775 along with the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms on July 6, 1775; opened American ports on April 6, 1776; voted for independence on July 2, 1776 and adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776; commissioned diplomats including Benjamin Franklin to seek French aid; emitted Continental currency to fund the war; and drafted the Articles of Confederation between 1776 and 1777, transmitting them to the states on November 15, 1777.

The Congress operated with each colony or state casting a single vote regardless of size, kept its proceedings secret, and selected its president as a presiding officer rather than an executive. Presidents during the Continental Congress era included Peyton Randolph, John Hancock, Henry Laurens, John Jay, and Thomas McKean. The Congress relocated several times during the war to escape British forces, including stays in Baltimore (December 1776 to March 1777), Lancaster (one day, September 27, 1777), York (September 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778), and Princeton (June to November 1783).

On March 1, 1781, after Maryland became the last state to ratify, the Articles of Confederation took effect and the body was renamed the Confederation Congress. It continued under the Articles until the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789. Although weak, the Continental Congress organized the first continental institutions and demonstrated that the colonies could govern themselves under stress.